Samsung Group Wednesday promoted Kim Jae-yeol, husband of Lee Seo-hyun, the second daughter of group leader Lee Kun-hee, to be the new president of Cheil Industries.

The move comes three months after Kim was raised to the senior vice president position at Samsung’s apparel affiliate in last year's annual management reshuffle. Kim's wife currently serves as Cheil's vice president.

Industry watchers say the recent promotion is "exceptional," though Samsung has recently been trying to form a younger management by promoting more youthful executives.

Samsung said that Kim's promotion was due to other factors than management-related ones.

"Kim was the sole candidate for the position at the Korea Skating Union (KSU). Because the head of a sports association is often taken up by a CEO-level executive, we followed this custom and decided to promote Kim," said Rhee In-yong, a chief communication officer at Samsung, in a media briefing held at its headquarters in southern Seoul.

"Kim's promotion also reflects our respect for KSU," added Rhee.

Samsung leader Lee is leading Korea's bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

The new Cheil Industries president joined Samsung in 2002 after he married Lee's second daughter Seo-hyun in 2000.

Kim earned an MBA at Stanford University in the United States after receiving a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in international politics.

"The new president is highly credited for his critical contributions so Cheil Industries could identify new growth engines including electronic material-related businesses," said a Samsung official.